


when it counted.

by gelphie



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, M/M, i hope this is ok i still haven't seen chap 2 lol, like sorta a fix-it, this is really a reddie fic but the other two are briefly mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 01:54:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20685563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gelphie/pseuds/gelphie
Summary: Richie stays.





	when it counted.

He hears them. He hears the sounds of their yelling. _Richie! Come on! We’ve got to go! _Begging. _Rich, honey, he’s gone. Please, it’ll be okay._ Screaming. _Richard! We can’t stay down here all goddamn day we’ve got to leave now!_ He hears them, acknowledges them somewhere in the back of his head, but they can’t drag him away. He’s frozen and panicking all at once. Knees stuck to the ground below him and well past the point of caring about whatever the hell was in the water, he holds Eddie close. Closer than he’s ever held him before, and he regrets it, not holding Eddie like this before. He’s sobbing, an ugly mixture of tears, snot, and loud hiccups. He can’t think straight. His only coherent thought is Eddie.

Eddie.

Eddie who hates this fucking sewer.

Eddie who would hate even more to die here.

Eddie who would die here.

Eddie who would die here and alone.

Eddie who would die _alone_.

He cups Eddie’s cheek, trying so hard to ignore how much it hurts to not have lovely brown eyes stare back at him. For a moment, he considers the idea that maybe he’s already dead. As soon as that thought crosses his mind, he pulls Eddie tighter against him, another wave of sobs escaping him. The thought is too much to bare. Everything is far too much to bare in this moment.

“I’m gonna stay with you, Eds.”

There’s no response and he doesn’t expect one. He can feel Eddie’s blood seep through his shirt. It’s warm and sticky and maybe the worst thing he’s ever felt on his skin. Still, he doesn’t let go of Eddie. He’s never letting go. Not again.

He takes another shaky breath. Mutters another sentence.

“I’m gonna stay right here, okay?”

He realizes he can’t hear the losers anymore. He tries hard not to think about them, about how much he’s hurting them. They’ll be okay, though. They have each other. They have families and good lives and things they care about. He looks at Eddie again. All he has is Eddie. All he’s ever had is Eddie, even if he didn’t remember it.

Another shaky breath. Another sentence.

“And everything’s gonna be okay.”

One more shaky breath. One last sentence.

“I promise, baby, I promise.”

He rests his forehead against Eddie’s and it all comes crashing down. _I love you_, he thinks. Then, there’s nothing but black.

Beverly sobs, unable to form words. Richie had a fucking chance. He could have lived. He could have stayed with them. But just as quickly as seven became six, six became four. Ben has his arms wrapped tightly around her, partially for his own comfort and partially so she doesn’t fall. He kisses the top of her head, mutter soft words of comfort against her hair. Her red hair. Her red hair that Richie gave her endless shit about. A single tear falls down Ben’s face. He kisses the top of her head again.

Mike stands in the middle, if there can be middle in a group of four. Bill stands right next to him. He reaches out, grabbing Mike’s hand and holding onto it for dear life. They don’t say anything. Bill has his eyes closed. Mike squeezes his hand. Bill squeezes back. The silent comfort they find in one another is enough to keep going. It has to be.

\--

The first thing he notices is the way he feels. He feels is warm. Warm like the quarry, back when they were kids, when they truly believed they’d be friends forever and It was gone for good. Maybe it did turn out that way in the end, twenty-seven years later and in ways they could have never imagined at twelve years old.

The second thing he notices, after opening his eyes, is Richie. Richie. Richie standing in front of him, no more than a foot of distance between them. He looks up, into Richie’s eyes. Richie’s beautiful brown eyes that glisten in the sun. Eddie can see the genuine happiness and glee Richie is radiating in them. He’s lost in them for a moment.

Then he remembers. He remembers the claw, the pain. He remembers them defeating It. He might not have seen the event, but he heard it. He remembers Richie, sobbing as he holds him. He doesn’t remember much else. He doesn’t remember dying, but he knows he’s dead. Maybe this is heaven, or maybe it’s just an exaggerated memory. He doesn’t really care. The only thing he cares about in the current moment is standing in front of nhim, smiling like an idiot.

He really can’t believe Richie is there all similes and just the way Eddie remembers him before that fucking sewer. He doesn’t think about what Richie did for him, for them,as he smiles back. Before he has the chance to say anything, Richie wraps his arms around Eddie, pulling him close and squeezes him as tight as humanly possible. Then, he’s being lifted a spun around. He laughs, probably harder than he has in years.

“Tozier, I swear to God, if you don’t put me down I’m finding a way to kill you in the afterlife.”

This makes Richie laugh, and it’s the most beautiful sound compared to the harsh sobs he remembers. Richie does set Eddie down, though he keeps his hands on Eddie’s waist. Eddie leans into him a little bit.

“I love you.” Richie declares, a grin brighter than Eddie thinks he’s ever seen on the man, including when they were kids. And, for once, there isn’t a hint of sarcasm in his voice, “I love you so much, Eddie Kaspbrak, in a very big homosexual way.”

Eddie laughs again, loud and grateful. And when he’s done he smiles at Richie, leaning up and pressing the softest of kisses to Richie’s mouth, “I love you, too, in an equally homosexual way.”

Richie grins against Eddie’s mouth, “That’s kinda gay, Eds.”

“Maybe so.” He smirks, crossing his arms, before he laughs again, “Holy shit, I’m literally going to have to deal with your annoying ass nicknames for the rest of eternity.”

“That’s right, Eddie Spaghetti! And you fucking love it.”

“That I do.” He smiles as he kisses Richie again and again and again.

Later, they’ll talk about what Richie did. What he sacrificed. They’ll talk about the remaining losers, hoping it would be a long time before they ever met again, because they all deserve to live beautiful and long lives. They’ll run into Stan, enjoying catching him up to speed about defeating It and learning about his life after Derry. Mike will be next, in fifteen years. Then Ben in twenty one. Bill in twenty eight. And, finally, in thirty two years, when Beverly kicks the bucket in a nursing home surrounded by her children, grandchildren, and great-grandson, the losers would be back together again.

Somehow, Eddie thinks everything will be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> i can't believe i still haven't seen chapter 2 yet here i am, writing fanfic for the first time in years about it. anyway!! i hope you guys enjoyed. feel free to follow me @cringed on tumblr!


End file.
